Monday evening Bishop and Nancy Hales arrived in Palmyra via South Carolina where they had attended the baptism of a granddaughter. We felt so privileged to have them come see us. We appreciate their love and support. Tuesday morning we took a walk through the sacred grove. We could not believe how much the grove has grown in just a couple of weeks. It has become so dense. It has such a peaceful and quiet atmosphere.

From here we drove to the Whitmer Farm where the church was organized. We stopped and had lunch at "The Great Wall" and then on to the Grandan printing Bldg.

The translation of the Book of Mormon was completed here in the upstairs of this home. Sister Whitmer was privileged to be visited by Moroni and he showed her the plates. She worked very hard and had many people in and out of her home.

Tuesday evening they joined us at the temple.

Wednesday morning we walked the Hill Cumorah and visited the visitors center. We had a wonderful visit with them and so appreciate their coming to visit.

By Thursday all the missionaries had moved out of Zion's Camp getting ready for the pageant people. We took a fun ride with the Pestanas over to Canandaigua in their bus. It is quite a place. We parked at the lake and had lunch and then back to the Hill.

These pictures are for the kids. A field full of geese, many are babies and haven't learned to fly yet.

This is an alpaca we saw in a field. He stood up nice and tall so I could get a good picture of him.

We received an assignment from Pres. Sieback to visit Erie, PA and present "Come to the Temple and Claim Your Blessings". The presidency have been trying to get out to the 72 units in the temple district but with three it takes a long time. He decided to send us all out and see if we could complete the task by August. We drove down with the Crookstons who were also speaking to the Erie 2nd Ward. We were a stones throw from Kirtland and President said we could go over. The Crookstons had never been to the Johnson Farm or the Morley Farm. We said that was like going to Palmyra and missing the sacred grove.

This is the rock quarry where they got the sandstone for the temple.

We had a tour of the Kirtland Temple. The sacrifice was truly great and here stands the remembrance of all they did.

This is the front porch at the Johnson Home. Joseph would have stood out here and preached every Sunday. Sixteen sections of the D & C were revealed in this home. The Lord had placed people where He needed them. The Johnsons were such a family.

One of the rooms where the revelation was given.

The Erie Ward is about 3 hours from the temple and yet they are devoted to the temple and are a temple going Ward. There were many there we had seen in the temple. Their youth come often. We bear testimony of this great work and encourage all of you to attend the temple as often as possible. Come and claim your blessings.

This has been a busy week. Monday night we had a salmon fish fry. It was delicious. The Archibalds go to Alaska every other summer for four months and fish. They have a daughter in Utica and she had lots of salmon. She sent it up for us. We had a wonderful meal together.

On Thursday we spent the day with the Pestanas. They are from Provo via Los Angeles. They served as baptistry directors for two years in LA. Paul got to know them down there. We went to Buffalo for the day. First we visited the Frank Lloyd Wright's Martin House Complex .

He is known for his prairie homes. It was built in 1905. Everyone thing is horizontal and organic. All the colors are earth tones. Quite innovative for his time.

We had lunch at the Original Buffalo Wings restaurant in Buffalo. They were very good.

We ended up by visiting the Herschell Carrousel Factory Museum. We also got to ride a carrousel made in 1905.

Saturday we left Palmyra about 11 and drove to Hornell, NY to speak at the Hornell Branch on Sunday. It was a beautiful ride down next to Canandaigua Lake. Beautiful rolling hills and green everywhere. We spent the evening in our motel room preparing for our Sacrament meeting talks and the 3rd hour Priesthood/RS meeting.

These are some of the members of the Hornell Branch. They were so wonderful to us and many of them we have served at the temple. Sister Geer, in the turquoise dress, is coming to the temple next month. The youth have also come to the temple for baptistry. Sister Bates, 2nd from the right, bottom row, is getting baptized on the 6th of July.

We got back in time for Paul to go to Stake Priesthood meeting. A couple of good thoughts. Priesthood service is like a tennis game--he who serves best usually wins. Devote our time to building up the kingdom. All of us can do what we can do. Elder Pitts--serve Him with our whole soul. Do the best you can. The Holy Spirit will guide you and direct you. The kingdom is directed by the Savior Jesus Christ.

The weeks just keep marching by and we are seeing more and more visitors. It has been warm this week. A couple of days were in the 95's and now we are suppose to cool down to the 60's.

Happy Father's day to all you wonderful fathers out there. We are certainly grateful for our fathers and for Paul. What a wonderful man he is and how he has blessed our family. We are truly blessed to have such a wonderful priesthood holder in our family to bless and lead us. We are also so very proud of our son, Kory, and our sons-in-law, Gary and Rob. What great men.

Today we visited the Lyons Ward with Elder & Sister Simons. It is always fun to go to other wards. There are so many people we know as ordinance workers at the temple or patrons who come regularly. We was fun to get to the the Simons better also. They are from Las Vegas.

Paul stopped off at the Palmyra Ward for a baptism on our way home and I came home to get dinner on the table. We had invited the Crookstons and Perkins for dinner. We had a lovely dinner and visit with them.

Thursday evening we stopped by the classic car show in Canandaigua to visit the Lockwoods. Their grandson is serving in the Ventura Mission and will be home in August.

Saturday Paul and I joined a few of the sisters from the RS to pick strawberries. I have three gallon freezer bags full. I need to make some jam. Anyone have a recipe to make our own pectin? It costs way too much at the store, there must be a way we can make our own. It sure tastes good. We served in the temple from 12:30 to 5:00, went for a little drive and ended up back at home for dinner. I stayed up and cleaned the berries. Across the street from the berry farm is a horse ranch. They had four sets of mothers and babies running around. They were so beautiful.

Heather Wildey has the two kids and is our 2nd counselor in RS. We got to baby sit for them a few times.

Monday for FHE we met at the Palmyra City Hall for a tour by Lynn Green a member of the Church and city clerk. The city hall was the former LDS chapel in Palmyra. We learned much about it's history, the history of Palmyra. Both Sister Green and her husband, Dick Green our HP group leader, are converts to the Church. Bro. Green grew up here in Palmyra and didn't join until her was in his mid twenties. Pres. McKay dedicated the building in 1961. It has wonderful acoustics and Lynn directed the first performance of "From Cumorah's Hill" a musical written by Steven Perry and Michael Wilcox. It has been performed two Sundays around pageant for the last 17 years. I got to sing in it last year and what a thrill. The Church decided it had outgrown the building and built the new stake center across from the Smith Farm and temple in 2001 or 2002. At that time they sold the building to the city of Palmyra who were dire need of a city hall.

Sister Hamilton has her back to us, Sister Lynn Green our speaker and Sister Cederlof, Assistant Matron.

Tuesday we went to find the spillway in Palmyra. Very nice hiking trails beside the creek and Erie Canal.

It has been a busy week with lots of families and visitors coming to the temple. We have had several families bring their children to the temple to do baptisms and that is always a special treat for us. Have a wonderful week, remember every time you go to the temple you will be better, schedule (calendar) , frequently- stay close to the Lord. May you be blessed for your efforts.

We saw a couple of deer grazing in the parking lot of the Hill Cumorah. They get a little skittish when you get out of the car.

Erie Canal Ride

Monday evening for FHE we took an Erie Canal boat ride through Locke 30. It was a beautiful evening and we were out on the water for two hours. I wish I could put all the pictures of going through the Locke on but it takes too long to get them downloaded. This is Sister Siebach and Paul.

We had a nice buffet luncheon on the boat trip.

We are entering into the Locke. The metal doors will close when we get inside and it will fill up with 16 feet of water and then the other end will open and we will go out.

We have dropped 16 feet and are on our way out of the Locke.

We are headed back now and it is rising 16 feet to get us up to the right hand.

Wednesday evening Paul and I went over to Gonongadan Historical Site where we listened to a lecture on the Seneca Indian longhouse. In the late 1600's and early 1700's there was a large tribe of Seneca Indians who were the keepers of the back door. These Indians controlled the Niagara River and all the beaver fur trade. The French wanted it and came down into their village with 3200 soldiers. The 1000 Indian braves were away in Ohio fighting when the French came in. The few young boys and old men and women were able to ambush them and stall them until the rest of the women and children could get to safety with some of their neighboring tribes. The French came in and burned down two large villages and 2 satellite villages, over 4500 people lived in this particular area and had over 45 longhouses. They destroyed all their crops and burned all their corn silos. It was very interesting and they have tried to preserve this history. For us to enjoy.

Thursday morning six missionary couples went over to the Bishop's Storehouse to help unload the large semi which comes in once a month with canning and food orders. With so much help we were done in an hour. We miss serving there on Friday mornings. We have Sister Gehrig, Crookston and Archibald and Elder Crookston and Elder Archibald in this picture.

Tuesday Paul spent the afternoon mowing for the Amsdens. They have a big field (10 acres) in the back that he mows. He did it last year also.

Friday between temple shifts the Gehrigs, Crookstons and I drove over to Rochester to see the Ellwanger House. It was part of the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra fundraiser. Designers came in and designed each of the rooms. It was very interesting and we enjoyed it. The home was built in 1830's and was enlarged in 1860's. It is in a beautiful part of the city.

The Perkins were lounging outside their fifth wheel. They are our coordinators on Wednesday morning and are from the St. George.

Friday night Sister Siebach called to see if we had played a trick on them because they found a turtle in their window well. Remember about a month ago they found a skunk in the window well.

I wanted you to see how deep the window well is.

There was also a frog down there with the turtle. Sister Sieback says the turtle ate him.

Today after choir we went to visit Bruce Armour on Yellow Mills Rd. He purchased this home built in 1860's and is doing some major remodeling. It is going to be beautiful when he is finished.

It has turned off hot and humid this week. It has been in the 90's. But if you are serving in the temple you don't notice it until you come out. Have a great week. We love you.

What a marvelous weekend. David Haws and his mother, Carol, came to visit us for a few days. They are from Thousand Oaks, & Fresno,CA. We had a wonderful time seeing the sites here in Palmyra with them. David is a great Church history enthusiast and we learned a lot from his many questions. We were in the Sacred Grove this afternoon after Sacrament meeting and our other meetings. We were virtually alone and wondered around finding the "witness trees". This is one of them. It would be over 200 years old. We had fun measuring them and most were 9' or more in circumference.

We always love to see the "Apostle tree". It is an ironwood tree and is dead but still stands strong. It gets its name from all the branches it has. It is deep in the forest and protected from the wind and elements and so may stand for many years to come.

Saturday I worked in the temple office in the morning and Paul spent the morning with the Haws seeing some of the sites and then we were all in the temple in the afternoon. Paul and I helped with abaptismal group. I think we had about 25 people and they were made up of four families and a branch. We did family file names and did about 270 baptisms and 290 confirmations. It was a great afternoon. That evening the four of us went to the Hill Cumorah for a VIP open house for the Dead Sea Scrolls. Tomorrow the exhibit will be taken down. It has been a wonderful draw for people in the area to come to the visitor center.

This has been a beautiful week. You see us lounging on the porch waiting for the Crookstons to pick us up to go to Wards for a cheesburger (buy one get one free). Good thing we took a moment to sit down because we found a wasp's nest there on the porch.

Whose having the most fun?

Last Sunday we had a quick get-together at Zions Camp. The Single Adult conference had some food left over and gave it to us so we all came for Sunday dinner.

We checked out the fence mending project and decided it looked pretty straight.

This is the crooked stream which runs behind the Smith log house and frame house. It was along here that they dammed up the water and had a baptismal font for some of the Willard Bean family.

For our FHE President Siebach presented his "Come To The Temple and Claim Your Blessings" presentation which he gives to all the Church units in the temple District. In summary:

Pres. Hinckley says; "every time you come you will be better"

Pres. Kimball says: you need to schedule and plan or calendar coming to the temple

Pres. Benson says: come frequently; stay close

Pres. Hunter says: Temple covenants are essential. We cannot return to presence of Heavenly Father & Jesus Christ without them

Temple Blessings: Initiatory--great promises, Endowment--knowledge, sealings--power & glory.

Have a great week and get yourself to the temple and take someone with you. Love you

Today Sunday we were invited to lunch at the Walton home. A couple who moved to Palmyra from Northern California. They have bought a beautiful old home in Palmyra on Main Street. Later in the day we went to Zion's Camp had some left overs from the Singles Conference. Many of them camped in Zions for the weekend.

On Thursday for our group outing we went to Lechworth Park. It is called the Grand Canyon of the East. There are three falls, the upper falls, the middle falls and the lower falls. Real original names huh? It was very beautiful and lots of water coming over the falls. We saw a group of sixth graders who were on a river raft trip and they were out swimming in the water, burr.

This is our group, The Thorsteds, Pestanas, Archibalds, Simons, Hullingers and us.

This is the upper falls. There is a train trellis above it. Anyone remember it from last summer?

Monday for FHE we joined with the site missionaries and moved the fence between the Smith log home and the frame home. It didn't take long with so many hands. Afterwards we met at the Hill Cumorah for a dinner. Fun evening with wonderful friends.

President Siebach, Elder Young the man in charge, and Paul.

It was a great week in the temple. Saturday we had four own endowments on one session. We were able to work with them and also be followers on the session. The temple has been very busy. The weather has turned off warm again and it is really nice. We are in such a special place with a very special spirit. Have a great week. CTR